Bad Girls We Love: Catwoman from The Dark Knight Rises

“It’s an ‘Ooops’ dripping in sexiness and insincerity, coming as it does after Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne interrupts her in the middle of a heist and before she dons her leather or rubber catsuit. The ‘Ooops’ and its Jean Harlow naughty-girl reading come early in the film and the rest of Hathaway’s performance seems to flow from it. She’s flip, she’s funny, and she looks great astride the bat cycle thingee. She kicks credible ass, and she doesn’t overdo the cat business. She’s just right.”

— Vanity Fair, from 2012, on Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises

This is the second time Catwoman has made the Bad Girl We Love club, and it won’t be the last. I’ve discussed Julie Newmar before, and plans are afoot to spotlightLee Meriwether as the frisky feline, too. Obviously, Michelle Pfeiffer’s take on Selina Kyle/Catwoman is my personal favorite—it’s one of my favorite movie performances of all time—but Selina is such a rich character, and has been beautifully portrayed by several actresses not named Zöe Kravtiz (don’t get me started, ugh). Anne Hathaway was considered an odd choice for the role when she was cast in the third film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Upon the film’s release she quickly dispelled this misguided opinion. and now, more than a decade later, she has stood the test of time as the film’s most energetic and electrifying presence. I’ve watched it a few times over the years, and whenever Hathaway saunters onscreen I get excited—especially when she mounts “ the bat cycle thingee.”

Hathaway’s Selina is a classic cat burglar, as we and Bruce Wayne first meet her trying break into a safe at Wayne Manor. Disguised as a maid, Selina is caught in the act by Bruce. She raises her skirt to reveal her black, seamed stockings, before climbing up on the ledge of an open window and gracefully backflipping out of the scene—and into our hearts, Bruce’s included. It’s a wonderful introduction, showing us that Hathaway understands the character’s role here—she’s the sexy, blunt, bad girl who purrs sweetly while conning your pants off.

Speaking of pants, Hathaway’s Selina likes to slip into a full body, skintight catsuit, complete with thigh high boots and a steampunky black mask. The slinky outfit fits her like a glove. This is one of the areas that blew many fanboys’ minds back in 2012: Hathaway is explosively sexy in this film, whether she’s in the fitted catsuit or a fitted skirt, she brings some major cat-in-heat flavor to the proceedings. The majority opinion at the time seemed to be that the world had no idea Anne Hathaway was this effing hot. To all who thought she couldn’t provide the requisite sensual kitty vibes required of the role, she slowly curled her lips in a sly smile, then purred, “Oh yeah? Just watch, boys.”

Despite that 2012 Vanity Fair review boldly declaring Hathaway “The Best Catwoman Ever,” I must politely, yet vehemently, disagree. And that’s no slight on Hathaway at all. Despite her excellence with role, she still probably ranks fourth or fifth place in my all-time live-action movie and TV rankings for the character. The completion ahead of her—Newmar, Pfeiffer, and Eartha Kitt, are simply that outstanding. Even Lee Meriwether, who rarely gets the cat-love she deserves, is nipping at Hathaway’s stiletto boot heels. It’s a solid lineup of actresses—minus, of course Kravitz, who bored me to tears in a movie (The Batman) I didn’t care for at all—each one striking gold with one of the great femme fatales, not just in comics, but in all of pop culture. It’s amazing, but the top five Catwomen are all fabulous, and Hathaway deserves to be included among them. I love that she tackled the role with such chutzpah. She raises the temperature in the room whenever she confidently and gracefully glides across the screen, ferociously stealing every scene in which she appears.

Me-owwww.